Click the below link to view my son, AkilanGandhi's First Birthday photo Album.
AkilanGandhi's First Birthday - Photo Album
Note: Internet Explorer recommended. Click the right bottom edge to flip the Album pages.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Atlantic City
Atlantic City is about a two hour drive from home. We had actually been to this place few weeks after coming down to NJ. So, we had taken the bus from Twin Towers Bus Station, East Brunswick which goes to Atlantic City. We were staying in Studio 6, East Brunswick at that time, and it was the last week of February 2008, so it was one of the cooool days.... Still we decided to explore this place.
To get to the Twin Towers was itself a long process, we got ready and thought why not walk our way to the bus station, and then had to come after walking half way, since we could not find a pathway to walk. Actually this happened a week before, and after being very tired, we dropped the idea to go that day. The next Saturday we decided to take the cab and were all ready, when suddenly an alarm, oh ! that was the smoke alarm which went on loud for a long time about half an hour, so we had to wait for it to settle down, then called the cab and headed to the Tower Center Bus Station. After this interesting start, we boarded the bus, the ticket was a round trip, which had fixed return timings as well. One thing which made us laugh to ourselves was , we felt we were the youngest, and all others were old, guessed that they are making use of the pocket money they get to play / spend in the Casinos.
We reached Atlantic City, and started walking the streets looking for Casinos, we ended up more in empty streets with smaller buildings, looks like we went in the wrong direction, then we walking back and came to track, and there were so many casinos out there.
We started exploring one by one, and actually we realized we should carry our passport there so that the bus money gets returned back almost which we can even use for playing there :)
The Atlantic sea / beach has a nice bay walk, which is also a fun thing to do there.
We collected some toys from Jumbo Jungle there....
To get to the Twin Towers was itself a long process, we got ready and thought why not walk our way to the bus station, and then had to come after walking half way, since we could not find a pathway to walk. Actually this happened a week before, and after being very tired, we dropped the idea to go that day. The next Saturday we decided to take the cab and were all ready, when suddenly an alarm, oh ! that was the smoke alarm which went on loud for a long time about half an hour, so we had to wait for it to settle down, then called the cab and headed to the Tower Center Bus Station. After this interesting start, we boarded the bus, the ticket was a round trip, which had fixed return timings as well. One thing which made us laugh to ourselves was , we felt we were the youngest, and all others were old, guessed that they are making use of the pocket money they get to play / spend in the Casinos.
We reached Atlantic City, and started walking the streets looking for Casinos, we ended up more in empty streets with smaller buildings, looks like we went in the wrong direction, then we walking back and came to track, and there were so many casinos out there.
We started exploring one by one, and actually we realized we should carry our passport there so that the bus money gets returned back almost which we can even use for playing there :)
The Atlantic sea / beach has a nice bay walk, which is also a fun thing to do there.
We collected some toys from Jumbo Jungle there....
Monday, June 21, 2010
Pomona Temple
Pomona Temple
This temple is in Upstate Newyork , It has all forms of Vishnu with Sri Ranganatha as the main shrine. Rama, Krishna, Narasimha, Padmavati Thaayar, Randal, Tirupati Venkateshwara, Lord Anjaneya are all big deities here...
Brahmotsavam is celebrated in a big way here in the month of June-July.
This temple is in Upstate Newyork , It has all forms of Vishnu with Sri Ranganatha as the main shrine. Rama, Krishna, Narasimha, Padmavati Thaayar, Randal, Tirupati Venkateshwara, Lord Anjaneya are all big deities here...
Brahmotsavam is celebrated in a big way here in the month of June-July.
Lancaster Trip....
Lancaster can be synonymously referred to as the Amish County, where the Amish people have retained their traditional life style as it is. They seem to be believing int he natural way of living, while the whole world is become all dependent with Gadgets.
Their main livelihood, is Dairy, Poultry, and farming. This reminds of man in yester years. They are self sufficient. They are living it that way to prove it, where they use minimal equipments for life. One room school, Buggy rides in horses, children going bare foot, girls in attire which is not too luxurious but good and neat for for the climate all symbolize the self-sufficient life. There would be atleast one person in each occupation in that city.
Greenery, abundant nature, corn fields, horse carriages, or even horse riding are common events when we go around. There are lots of "Bread and Breakfast Inns" where they host paying guests. We too stayed in one such Wanner Family guest house, there were 5 bed rooms, and we were 5 families, all my colleagues stayed there as one big family for 2 and a half days :) So much fun with all kids and ladies having their talks and the gentlemen having theirs. Singing, Dancing, playing, icecreams, snacks were all fun in the night. The creek running by the house, the corn fields and the Cow shed were interesting, we got to see the corn being all harvested in acres of land in minutes. We also got to see the interesting way in which cows are milked with some equipment to maintain cleanliness and timing correctly. The whole process where the corn becomes food and the remains and the cow dung again becoming manure again showed how the Amish people make sure they are able to make use of the daily life useful for each other. The final crushed corn stack become the fuel generating raw material. Wow, we were zapped at the whole thing.
Buggy rides were interesting and of course the tourism part..... Strasburg Rail road, where the Rail runs on Coal and Steam, was interesting to go around the Corn fields for about an hour.
Choo Choo barn was also very nice to see the miniature of the life in Amish County, nice workmanship on the details in the miniatures. Circus, Fun fair, Road, railways.... all were very nice.
Their main livelihood, is Dairy, Poultry, and farming. This reminds of man in yester years. They are self sufficient. They are living it that way to prove it, where they use minimal equipments for life. One room school, Buggy rides in horses, children going bare foot, girls in attire which is not too luxurious but good and neat for for the climate all symbolize the self-sufficient life. There would be atleast one person in each occupation in that city.
Greenery, abundant nature, corn fields, horse carriages, or even horse riding are common events when we go around. There are lots of "Bread and Breakfast Inns" where they host paying guests. We too stayed in one such Wanner Family guest house, there were 5 bed rooms, and we were 5 families, all my colleagues stayed there as one big family for 2 and a half days :) So much fun with all kids and ladies having their talks and the gentlemen having theirs. Singing, Dancing, playing, icecreams, snacks were all fun in the night. The creek running by the house, the corn fields and the Cow shed were interesting, we got to see the corn being all harvested in acres of land in minutes. We also got to see the interesting way in which cows are milked with some equipment to maintain cleanliness and timing correctly. The whole process where the corn becomes food and the remains and the cow dung again becoming manure again showed how the Amish people make sure they are able to make use of the daily life useful for each other. The final crushed corn stack become the fuel generating raw material. Wow, we were zapped at the whole thing.
Buggy rides were interesting and of course the tourism part..... Strasburg Rail road, where the Rail runs on Coal and Steam, was interesting to go around the Corn fields for about an hour.
Choo Choo barn was also very nice to see the miniature of the life in Amish County, nice workmanship on the details in the miniatures. Circus, Fun fair, Road, railways.... all were very nice.
NJ Travel Interest....
Bridge Water Temple
One of the places we visited first after buying our Corolla. Nice to visit the temple, one is praying to god, another is seeing a lot of people of likeliness, belonging to our land back in India. Spending a couple of hours here on a special occasion like festivals, birthday, etc is all very nice.
Lord Venkateshwara Shrine, looks like the one in Tirupathi....so is all the more special, its about half an hour journey from home, but the distance does not stop us from visiting often.
Mercer County Park
This is a nice bog park where there is lot of greenery, boating, lots of open area to play. Taking a stroll with the baby, or having them play on the grounds is all interesting.
One of our office Summer party we all came here, also there are open tented areas for conducting parties for a cost.
Guruvayoorappan Temple
This is in East Brunswick itself, it is nearer than BridgeWater.
Guruvayoorappan is the main deity, and the Srinivasa Kalyanam with the shrines from Tirupati was a special event. We found this place with great difficulty, but it is a special place giving a lot of peace. Waiting for the gopuram to be built.
Durga Temple
Have been here once during 2008 navratri. It is a nice north indian type of a temple. It is in North Brunswick. Heard that here there is lot of nice Prasadam distributed.
Apple Picking
There are lot of orchards where we can pick our own fruits and vegetable during the right season. We had been to Battleview Orchards to pick Peaches and Apples. Apples were in bunches in the trees and that was amazing. Peaches were all the more tasty. This was a very interesting day.
One of the places we visited first after buying our Corolla. Nice to visit the temple, one is praying to god, another is seeing a lot of people of likeliness, belonging to our land back in India. Spending a couple of hours here on a special occasion like festivals, birthday, etc is all very nice.
Lord Venkateshwara Shrine, looks like the one in Tirupathi....so is all the more special, its about half an hour journey from home, but the distance does not stop us from visiting often.
Mercer County Park
This is a nice bog park where there is lot of greenery, boating, lots of open area to play. Taking a stroll with the baby, or having them play on the grounds is all interesting.
One of our office Summer party we all came here, also there are open tented areas for conducting parties for a cost.
Guruvayoorappan Temple
This is in East Brunswick itself, it is nearer than BridgeWater.
Guruvayoorappan is the main deity, and the Srinivasa Kalyanam with the shrines from Tirupati was a special event. We found this place with great difficulty, but it is a special place giving a lot of peace. Waiting for the gopuram to be built.
Durga Temple
Have been here once during 2008 navratri. It is a nice north indian type of a temple. It is in North Brunswick. Heard that here there is lot of nice Prasadam distributed.
Apple Picking
There are lot of orchards where we can pick our own fruits and vegetable during the right season. We had been to Battleview Orchards to pick Peaches and Apples. Apples were in bunches in the trees and that was amazing. Peaches were all the more tasty. This was a very interesting day.
Sharadamba Temple and Bushkill Falls
Sharadamba Temple, Pennsylvania (Sringeri like). For more information, please visit Sharadamba Temple website.
This temple I happened to notice in one of the web sites, and with the information which said it is on the way to Bushkill Falls, we planned to go here. On a June mid Saturday morning, we set off with our parents, my husband and my son AkilanGandhi to the temple.
On the way we picked-up my husband's cousin Kannan
from the hotel, who had just crossed three days after coming to US, and my niece Bindhu
(Bindhu & my mother) from her home also and headed to the temple.
The temple is located in a beautiful place surrounded by woods and beautiful picturesque places. There is a lake going by but taken up and commercialized by resort owners. We entered into the temple to see the beautiful shrine of the goddess. Silence is strictly maintained, and we entered into a peaceful mode, hearing the chanting of the priests.
It is a very well maintained and serene place. We all did Archana, and did our Pradakshanas. We heard that there is a old temple nearby, so went to the place, and heard there is lunch around 12.30 Noon :), with one hour left for that, we went to see a creek , but with no parking space available there we came back after spending the one hour driving up and down, for lunch :) Gave Akilan his baby food
and for us Bisi bele Bath and Bagala Bath(curd rice) was sumptuous and tasty. After changing to comfortable clothing and footwear for trekking, we headed to Bushkill falls.
Bushkill Falls,Pennsylvania For more information, please visit Bushkill Falls website.
At the entrance we purchased the tickets $10 for adults and $9 for my father
(over 62 years), and decided we will take the adventurous Red Trail (click to view the map), which leads us to the Bridal Veil Falls.
We walked through the beautiful green woods, saw the creeks and abundant nature, walking through the wooden steps, bridges, natural ups and downs and took lot of photos and video shot. We saw the beautiful falls which was spread in parts towards the end in different stages, and our photo shoots continued, with my Dad all excited capturing photos everywhere. All of us like the long walk, we did not feel it was that tiring because of the feast of nature that our eyes were enjoying.
We took small rests now and then and reached the end and quickly wanted to get back since we had planned for another temple. However we could not locate the address so a little disappointing we dropped back Bindhu and Kannan in that order and got back home at 11 PM! in the night.
Click here to view interesting video clips about Bushkill Falls, Pennsylvania
This temple I happened to notice in one of the web sites, and with the information which said it is on the way to Bushkill Falls, we planned to go here. On a June mid Saturday morning, we set off with our parents, my husband and my son AkilanGandhi to the temple.
On the way we picked-up my husband's cousin Kannan
from the hotel, who had just crossed three days after coming to US, and my niece Bindhu
(Bindhu & my mother) from her home also and headed to the temple.The temple is located in a beautiful place surrounded by woods and beautiful picturesque places. There is a lake going by but taken up and commercialized by resort owners. We entered into the temple to see the beautiful shrine of the goddess. Silence is strictly maintained, and we entered into a peaceful mode, hearing the chanting of the priests.
It is a very well maintained and serene place. We all did Archana, and did our Pradakshanas. We heard that there is a old temple nearby, so went to the place, and heard there is lunch around 12.30 Noon :), with one hour left for that, we went to see a creek , but with no parking space available there we came back after spending the one hour driving up and down, for lunch :) Gave Akilan his baby food
and for us Bisi bele Bath and Bagala Bath(curd rice) was sumptuous and tasty. After changing to comfortable clothing and footwear for trekking, we headed to Bushkill falls.Bushkill Falls,Pennsylvania For more information, please visit Bushkill Falls website.
At the entrance we purchased the tickets $10 for adults and $9 for my father
(over 62 years), and decided we will take the adventurous Red Trail (click to view the map), which leads us to the Bridal Veil Falls.We walked through the beautiful green woods, saw the creeks and abundant nature, walking through the wooden steps, bridges, natural ups and downs and took lot of photos and video shot. We saw the beautiful falls which was spread in parts towards the end in different stages, and our photo shoots continued, with my Dad all excited capturing photos everywhere. All of us like the long walk, we did not feel it was that tiring because of the feast of nature that our eyes were enjoying.
We took small rests now and then and reached the end and quickly wanted to get back since we had planned for another temple. However we could not locate the address so a little disappointing we dropped back Bindhu and Kannan in that order and got back home at 11 PM! in the night.
Click here to view interesting video clips about Bushkill Falls, Pennsylvania
Longwood Gardens
Longwood Gardens ....2008
Heard about this place from a friend of mine, and that it is good for a one day trip, and good for novice US driving. So, we started for this place in the Spring of 2008 which was last week of May, when we were very new to driving, after about one month of buying our Toyota.
It was about a 2 hour drive to the beautiful gardens, we got the tickets which was about $16, and entered in about 11, we had had a light breakfast, thinking we can find something on the way. So first we wanted to grab some energy to continue the garden walk. Chidam got a nice lemonade which was so refreshing and Pretzels and come cookies, that was a good one to keep us going, with the energy that we collected, we started walking the garden.
Wow, so beautiful, very huge than Lalbagh, and so nicely maintained, the indoor and outdoor gardens all were beautiful. The Roses were just buds, since it was still Spring. But we guessed after a couple of days, or weeks it should be blooming.
So many plant varieties, fountains, greenery, it was all beautiful. Well maintained lawns and meadows, all belonging to the Longwood family! We enjoyed the whole day there and when we were tired, thought we can head back home. The long drive which was new to us was interesting and we liked it so much, we captured it all in our handycam and Camera to cherish it longer.
Heard about this place from a friend of mine, and that it is good for a one day trip, and good for novice US driving. So, we started for this place in the Spring of 2008 which was last week of May, when we were very new to driving, after about one month of buying our Toyota.
It was about a 2 hour drive to the beautiful gardens, we got the tickets which was about $16, and entered in about 11, we had had a light breakfast, thinking we can find something on the way. So first we wanted to grab some energy to continue the garden walk. Chidam got a nice lemonade which was so refreshing and Pretzels and come cookies, that was a good one to keep us going, with the energy that we collected, we started walking the garden.
Wow, so beautiful, very huge than Lalbagh, and so nicely maintained, the indoor and outdoor gardens all were beautiful. The Roses were just buds, since it was still Spring. But we guessed after a couple of days, or weeks it should be blooming.
So many plant varieties, fountains, greenery, it was all beautiful. Well maintained lawns and meadows, all belonging to the Longwood family! We enjoyed the whole day there and when we were tired, thought we can head back home. The long drive which was new to us was interesting and we liked it so much, we captured it all in our handycam and Camera to cherish it longer.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)